Brussels, 15/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - In August 2006, inflation reached 2.3%, as opposed to 2.4% in July and 2.2% a year ago in both the eurozone and the EU25. In August 2006, the lowest annual inflation rates were found in Finland (1.3%), Sweden (1.6%) and Poland (1.7%), with the highest rates in Latvia (6.8%), Estonia and Slovakia (both 5%). Compared with July 2006, annual inflation rose in nine Member States, remained unchanged in three and fell in thirteen. Average inflation rates in the year ending August 2006 were the lowest in Finland (1.2%), Poland (1.3%), Sweden (1.4%) and the Netherlands (1.7%); and the highest in Latvia (7.0%), Estonia (4.4%) and Spain (3.9%). In the eurozone, the main components with the highest inflation rates in August 2006 were housing (4.8%), transport (3.5%) and food (2.9%),with the lowest rates recorded for communications (-3.9%) and clothing (-0.1%).